Former President Trump claimed Monday night that New York Attorney General Letitia James engaged in fraud by allegedly convincing a judge to undervalue his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida amid his civil fraud case in the Empire State.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump called James a “failed and disgusting” attorney general who significantly undervalued his Florida property.
“The only FRAUD in the Peekaboo James case, our failed and disgusting New York State Attorney General, was her convincing ‘Judge’ Arthur Engoron to put a value on Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, of just $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount,” Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, wrote on the platform.
“This was fraudulently and illegally done, working closely together in a corrupt Communist system, to set their NARRATIVE after learning that their Values and Facts were completely wrong,” he continued. “Businesses will flee the State as Migrant Crime and Violence continues to flourish. I paid $300,000,000 in Taxes, and this is what I get. WITCH HUNT!!!”
This comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron handed down his decision last month after a months-long trial beginning in October in which the former president was accused of inflating his assets and committing fraud in financial documents.
Engoron ruled that Trump and other defendants were liable for “persistent and repeated fraud,” “falsifying business records,” “issuing false financial statements,” “conspiracy to falsify false financial statements,” “insurance fraud” and “conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.”
Later in February, a New York Appeals Court judge denied Trump’s request to delay payment of the $464 million owed as a result of the lawsuit brought by James, but said he would temporarily allow the former president and his sons to continue running their business during the appeals process.
A New York Appeals Court judge previously ruled that Trump must post a bond for the full amount of the judgment and that an independent director of compliance will be appointed.
On Monday, Trump’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that obtaining the $464 million appeal was a “practical impossibility under the circumstances presented.”
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Trump’s attorney Alina Habba told the X22 report Monday she was “confident” her client’s debt would be dismissed.
“Despite the fact that witnesses frankly had said that they were great clients, we all made money, they did nothing wrong, we got slammed with this egregious number, and I’m confident we’ll overturn it,” Habba said.
In a Truth Social post earlier on Monday, Trump said he “built a Magnificent Business, which helped rebuild New York City and State, with Amazing, Unparalleled, Historic Properties and tons of CASH, which Crooked Joe Biden and his Maniac Persecutors are trying to wrongfully and illegally take from me.”
“A bond of the size set by the Democrat Club-controlled Judge, in Corrupt, Racist Letitia James’ unlawful Witch Hunt, is unConstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine,” Trump wrote. “The Bonding Companies have never heard of such a bond, of this size, before, nor do they have the ability to post such a bond, even if they wanted to.”
Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
